Bucheon's long-stalled Daejang Andongnae urban development project finally gains momentum

An urban development project in Bucheon's Daejang Andongnae district — stalled for two decades — is finally set to move forward.

The settlement zone, long held back by regulatory constraints, has secured a path toward modernization in step with the nearby Daejang third-generation new town.

Bucheon city announced Tuesday that a proposed revision to the urban management plan for the Daejang Andongnae Urban Development Project in the Daejang-dong area of Ojeong-gu had received conditional approval from the Gyeonggi Province Urban Planning Committee.

Under the decision, 36 percent of the total project zone will be rezoned from first-category general residential to second-category general residential — a one-step upgrade in land-use classification.

The higher zoning designation relaxes floor-area ratio and building-height restrictions, significantly improving the project's financial viability, which had long been the main obstacle to development.

The Daejang Andongnae project calls for developing a roughly 293,000-square-meter site to supply housing lots for a total of 1,595 units along with supporting infrastructure.

Korea Land and Housing Corporation, which is leading the project, plans to overhaul the area's deteriorated residential environment and expand public infrastructure — including roads and parks — while building a unified residential community linked to the adjacent Bucheon Daejang public housing district.

The area was released from its greenbelt designation in 2006, but the project repeatedly fell through due to low financial viability and legal restrictions.

Even after the third-generation new town designation, critics continued to raise concerns that strict zoning rules applied to released settlement zones prevented the area from keeping pace with surrounding development.

In response, the city actively lobbied the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for deregulation starting in 2023. As a result, a revision to the urban and county management plan guidelines was enacted in June, opening the door to zoning upgrades for settlement zones adjacent to new towns.

The city said it plans to promptly address the conditions set by Gyeonggi Province and proceed without delay with a review by the city's urban planning committee to formally designate the urban development zone and establish a development plan.